Sevagram Journey:From the Diary of Thansi K M
Sevagram Journey:
From the diary of Thansi K M
A lengthy trip... after a long gap, the first long train journey with children, the first Maharashtra journey, there are so many special features about this tour. In addition, as my mother has rightly told me it was a spiritual journey.
No matter what you call it, it was a great experience.
“Esthappan…, Esthappan you must go and see Ramadas..." as said to Lucifer.... (Dialogue from a popular Malayalam movie)
Just like that... I suggest You all must go and see... must walk through that soil... must sit under the Pipal tree planted by Gandhiji . You have to sit close to the stone where BR Ambedkar sat and listen ... Sometimes you can hear the sound of Ambedkar .
They have kept it so meticulously. Not only the stone, the Sevagram Ashram also
They have kept it all just the way how Gandhiji left the place leaving everything there,... Bapu kuti, Ba kuti, prayer ground, well, kitchen, bathroom, one way telephone, the ways of life, Its maintenance, the prayer, production of khadi, everything has been preserved very carefully... that fineness/exactness, in the wind there and the excitement in the eyes of Siby Sir, who narrated all these.
On the second day we saw Vinoba Bhave and Jamnalal Bajaj's garden ( Gitai Mandir) , manufacturing of spinning wheels and progress in the production of Khadi (Gram Seva Mandal). It surprised me that the ashes of those who died in the Bajaj family are placed under a tree in Bajaj's garden... They all rest in peace under the same tree....
And Gandhiji and Vinoba Bhave statues made from scrap steel materials... (Charkha Griha)
The whole third day was an interesting experience for children... Documentary and seminar on Gandhiji . Myself and my four team members went in search of the soul of India... farm land, agriculture, goat, the smell of cow dung,empty main road... Yes... This is the typical village... Search here... Searched and found it... not one but many good souls... Human being with no stain in their minds even for the name sake
I was surprised when I spoke to them in Hindi...
More surprised, when they said " No Hindi "... Then my Hindi and their Marathi and communication through more gestures.
"Just like saying goat for cow "…
And what I was curious about was the building construction... I was happy to hear from Siby Sir that all the architectural drawings will be made available to me. Next day I left there at 7 am by car and we reached Sevagram railway station... As per the usual IRCTC routine without any change the train came late. Sevagram wept deeply when we left. Even in the midst of heavy rain all were there to help us carry my five bags, take care of my mother and four children, Razia teacher and others.
Wilson Mash, who learned the names of everyone within one day and introduced all of us with their names,Shinoj mash who called my children with the name 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 (In Malayalam) Bhaskaran Mash, Pramod Mash, Sreedharan Mash, Santhosh Mash, Satheesan Mash (It was my mother's journey so I call all of them as Mash/teacher)... and my Zahra's own Unnikrishnan Mash... and Faseela teacher and everyone else... (there are still many whose names I am not familiar with ...) we managed to catch the train... and the journey I call it as one and a half journey...
Overflowing of water ... Passengers who show their Aadhaar card when they are asked to produce a ticket... IRCTC food came late.. Love and care of canteen persons, if I ask for milk and food for the child they will give it keeping away all their work. The masters used to bring fried things from the snack shops...
The train route was changed due to the overflowing of water...
Like the unwelcome visitor, the train was stopped in railway stations and other places for long time
Opening the door of every toilet was like opening the lid of uric acid in the chemistry lab. It was worse inside… Scarcity of water due to change in train route
... Want to tell the rest???... I won't....
In any case, we enjoyed the beauty of Maharashtra and Telangana by walking, sitting and lying down ... because of that we were not hungry...
After a lot of struggle when we reached Tamilnadu state ... We were happy like when we reached home...
For us and also for our Father who was waiting for our arrival Chinchu sister, Didi, Kunjuma and baby Ammu were happy and sad to see us as we came 25 hours late,...
When Dr. Roshni came from Coimbatore to look after us. Slowly all of us came to life... When ORS was given by Didi and Kunjuma, the heads were raised one by one... We are not tired we will be in the next tour to Sabarmati Ashram mother declared with full energy to Sunny sir who is planning the next trip.
Note:The original text was written in Malayalam
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Good article
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